I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to air cleaning devices and, more particularly, to an air cleaning device having a wash section with an improved adjustable venturi.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of air cleaning devices, oftentimes called air scrubbers, which disperse a wash fluid into an air stream contaminated with particulate matter and thereafter collect the wash liquid which is impregnated with the particulate matter. These air scrubbers typically comprise a main housing having a wash liquid reservoir formed along their bottom and having a closed interior which is open at one end to an air outlet. The air scrubber further includes a wash section means having a tubular housing with one end forming an inlet for receiving a contaminated air stream and having an outlet which is open to the interior of the main housing. A fan inducts the air from the wash section air inlet into the housing air outlet. Moreover, the wash section housing is vertically disposed so that the air stream inducted into the wash section housing flows toward the reservoir.
A wash liquid dispersing means is provided adjacent the air inlet in the wash section housing for dispersing a wash liquid into the contaminated air stream. The particulate matter contained within the contaminated air stream becomes intermixed with the wash liquid, and a venturi downstream from the wash liquid dispersing means then accelerates the contaminated air stream toward the reservoir. The relatively heavy wash liquid with the now dissolved particulate matter thus enters the reservoir due to momentum while the relatively lighter and now cleaned air enters into the interior of the main housing and is exhausted from the air outlet means.
One disadvantage of these previously known air scrubbers, however, is that the dimensions of the venturi section are either preset or, at the best, only crudely adjustable. For different air cleaning applications, however, the venturi section must be properly adjusted for maximum cleaning efficiency of the air scrubber. Consequently, with these previously known air scrubbers in which the venturi section is preset or only crudely adjustable, the maximum air cleaning efficiency of the air scrubber is not obtained.